Commercial Manager
Location: Remote, with travel to Havant, Hampshire on a semi-regular basis
Salary: Up to £38,000 + Bonus
Some people look at customers.
You look at opportunities. You notice patterns. You wonder why one product sells better than another. You instinctively think about pricing, customer experience and how things could be done differently. You enjoy building relationships just as much as analysing the numbers behind them.
Most importantly, you get genuine satisfaction from helping a business grow.
If that's you, we'd like to introduce ourselves.
Tell me more. Who are Vegeco?
For over 20 years, Vegeco has been helping shape the ethical vegan pet food industry.
We're both a manufacturer and a distributor, giving us a unique understanding of every stage of the journey. We manufacture our own brands, including Benevo, V-Dog and Pawtato, whilst also distributing trusted vegan pet food brands to retailers and businesses across the UK.
We've built our reputation by combining commercial expertise with strong ethical values, creating long-term partnerships with customers who care about quality, sustainability and doing business the right way.
Like many successful small businesses, we've grown organically over the years. Now we're investing in the next stage of that journey by introducing a formal management structure for the first time.
This Commercial Manager role is brand new.
You'll work directly alongside our founders and new Operations Manager, taking ownership of the commercial function and helping shape how the business continues to grow over the next twenty years.
Sounds interesting. So what's the job?
This isn't a traditional sales management role. It blends, well, everything commercial into one. Bit of marketing, bit of sales relationship development, bit of analytics, bit of finance into one.
So yes, you'll spend time building relationships with customers, identifying new opportunities and supporting commercial growth. But it's much broader than that.
You'll oversee our customer experience across both B2B and B2C channels, work closely with marketing to maximise campaign performance, analyse customer behaviour, review pricing, monitor margins and help us make smarter commercial decisions based on real data. You may also be involved in some of our projects, or heading out to events.
You'll also support and develop our customer-facing teams, ensuring they're equipped to deliver the level of service our customers have come to expect.
Ultimately, you'll become the commercial voice of the business, helping us strengthen existing relationships, unlock new opportunities and continue growing in a way that stays true to who we are.
A quick reality check...
We're a successful SME. But we aren't the finished article.
That means you'll have real autonomy, plenty of variety and the opportunity to influence decisions quickly.
It also means you won't inherit a huge commercial department with layers of management and endless support teams.
Sometimes you'll be analysing customer trends and helping shape the marketing activities.
Sometimes you'll be helping resolve a customer issue, partnering up with Ops or leading the Customer Service Team.
Sometimes you'll be sat with the directors discussing strategy for engaging in new territories or launching a new product.
Sometimes you’ll be reaching out to prospective customers, on both the potential wholesaler market or resolving B2C customer issues escalated to you.
And sometimes you'll simply roll your sleeves up because that's what needs doing.
If you're looking for a role where every day looks exactly the same, this probably isn't it.
If you're excited by the idea of genuinely influencing a growing business, you'll fit right in.
What are we looking for?
We're interested in people who are naturally commercial, obviously.
You'll probably have experience in sales, commercial management, account management, business development or customer service leadership within an SME, manufacturing, wholesale or FMCG environment. But we are open to someone with a strong track record of looking at commercial functions within a small business and getting that to scale.
More importantly, you'll be someone who:
• Builds trusted relationships with ease.
• Enjoys using data to make better commercial decisions.
• Thinks strategically but isn't afraid of hands-on delivery, and isn’t shy about picking up the phone.
• Has excellent commercial judgement and strong business awareness.
• Loves finding opportunities to improve customer experience.
• Is motivated by growth, not just sales targets.
• Enjoys working collaboratively across different teams.
Above all else, we're looking for someone who wants to build something, not simply maintain it.
What's in it for you?
Alongside a salary of up to £38,000 with a bonus opportunity, enhanced annual leave and all the other stuff you can expect, you'll have the chance to shape a role that's never existed before in a business with genuine purpose.
You'll be joining a company that's spent over twenty years earning its reputation within the ethical vegan pet food industry and helping define what comes next.
You'll have direct access to our founders, the freedom to influence commercial decisions and the opportunity to make a visible impact from day one. We're a small business, so your successes won't disappear into a quarterly report. You'll see the difference your work makes every single day.
Ready to help write the next chapter?
We'd love to hear from you. We'd love to hear from you. Apply today, and enter into our recruitment process.
Which, by the way, we're keeping simple.
1) An initial chat with our outsourced HR manager, Kat, done virtually.
2) A second competency based interview with our founders, Damian and Darrell, again, virtually.
3) A final stage on site to meet the team, that will involve a presentation. Don't worry, you'll be briefed first!
Please note: we cannot accept applications for individuals who need sponsorship to work in the UK.